Lana Wachowski

One half of the fraternal filmmaking duo known as the Wachowski Brothers, Larry Wachowski and sibling Andy were the creative minds behind the "Matrix" trilogy (2000, 2003), one of the most imaginative...
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Taking on the task of adapting David Mitchell’s best-selling novel Cloud Atlas to the big screen was not just an ambitious challenge, but also a passion-driven financial risk that was seen as a chance for the Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer to make another mind-boggling concept, which was already written in the stars.
“[David] writes the novel, Natalie Portman reads the novel on the set of [V for] Vendetta, I see it, I read it, Andy reads it, Tom reads it and now we are here,” says Lana Wachowski, half the mastermind behind The Matrix, at a roundtable interview in Los Angeles. “We were given this book and it was an opportunity, it was the comet that came into our lives.”
Cloud Atlas follows six storylines spanning across five centuries, featuring an all-star Hollywood cast – Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant – that illustrates how the events, decisions and actions of an individual will transcend to others directly correlated with them in the future.
Because of the eternal recurrence consistency throughout the film’s reincarnation theme, Cloud Atlas became a once-in-a-lifetime project for actors to portray multiple characters in one film. As Harry Berry explained, “I loved the evolution of the characters and I loved the totality of every single one of them… Every character, every part that everyone had to play was equally as important to telling the story.”
The almost three-hour film can be a little complex with the multitude of stories, but one motive that prevails in every time period and lifetime was love. One of the film’s most captivating stories was a crime thriller segment that follows soul mates Isaac Sachs (Hanks) and Luisa Ray (Berry).
“My favorite role is Isaac Sachs, because he is literally a version of myself where he writes down these equations,” says Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks. “He writes the atlas, but comes across the cloud. He’s on the plane, and he says, “Okay, I’ve fallen in love with Luisa Ray and now things are profoundly different for me.” I relate to that, because that’s what I went through with my wife [Rita Wilson]. Without a doubt. So that happens. You have to be lucky enough to stumble across them.”
Even though Hanks may have had his fair share of luck in his personal life, Berry, his on-screen other half had her share of bad luck during the filming of Cloud Atlas. During the shoot Berry broke her foot off-set and worried she would derail years of planning of the Wachowski &amp; Co. film.
“I thought after the day after it happened, I heard, ‘Lana and Andy want to come see you,’ I thought they were surely going to give me my papers and tell me, ‘Back on the plane,’” the Oscar-winning actress revealed. “But I was so touched ... I cried so hard when they said, ‘No, a bump in the road. We’re going to fix this.’”The Wachowski siblings and Tykwer became accustomed to challenges as they pursued getting Cloud Atlas being made, because it was considered “unfilmable” and similar to the siblings’ first blockbuster The Matrix, the film is demanding and took years to finally get the green light from Warner Bros.
But parallel to the film, Wachowski &amp; Co. — who didn’t receive any paychecks as directors, even investing their own money into the project — maintained their faith, carrying out their labor of love, which will leave audiences thinking about their own lives and they way they’re living after they walk out of the movie theater.
“The making of this movie was filled with challenges and conventions that sort of had to be transcended, “ Lana explained. “Even in the convention of the film everyone looks at it and thinks, ‘Oh, is this an art house film or is a mainstream film?’ It’s a convention that the movie is attempting to transcend.”
Cloud Atlas hits theaters Friday, October 26.
[Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures (3)]
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Unlike most festivals that program small films prime for discovery, the Toronto International Film Festival parades nearly 300 films, most of which are well-known going into the ten day moviegoing extravaganza. Big name, award-friendly directors like Ben Affleck, Terrence Malick, David O. Russell, and the Wachowskis arrive on the scene to show off their latest cinematic works, in hopes of stirring up buzz and hooking potential moviegoers.
As a preview of the Fall and Winter line-ups to come, TIFF 2012 was a major success. Impressively, the festival's audiences, both eager for serious, post-summer entertainment and skeptical that respected filmmakers could continue to deliver quality work, walked away wowed. Now that the festival has wound down and its winners have been announced, conversation immediately steers towards awards consideration. Which crowdpleasing films can go all the way to the Oscars?
While an Oscar win does little to impact the quality of a movie (as long as they come out, people who see them in theaters win!), TIFF's award winners and debuts have gone on to see major contention in the Academy Awards races and, in turn, box office success. Will this year follow suit? Here are the Toronto movies we think have what it takes to take home gold:
Silver Linings Playbook
David O. Russell's follow up to 2010's Oscar-nominated The Fighter has all the makings of a Best Picture contender — including a TIFF Audience Award, shared with previous winners Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech. With two knockout performances by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, that miraculously weave comedy into a dark story of mental illness, Silver Linings Playbook is a human story that never loses itself in schmaltz. Even with the "true story" weight of the material, Russell's unique voice oozes from every moment of the film, which should help him snag a Best Director and Best Screenplay nomination.
Cloud Atlas
Andy and Lana Wachowski teamed up with German auteur Tom Tykwer to realize the three-hour experimental narrative Cloud Atlas which cross-cuts six stories following dozens of characters and spanning hundreds of years. Reviews were mixed at TIFF (although it knocked our socks off), so its Oscar potential is up in the air. There's an unmatched level of craft on display in Cloud Atlas, making it a shoe-in for a technical awards at the end of the season, but if audiences manage to connect with it on a existential level — as intended by the juxtaposition of characters and their souls' many lives — it could blossom into a Best Picture contender. While Tom Hanks has been a viable actor candidate in the past, Cloud Atlas is definitely an ensemble movie. No one steals the spotlight, making the star (and Oscar possibility) of Cloud Atlas the movie as a whole.
Anna Karenina
Period dramas get a bad rap, belittled as "Oscar fodder" rather than actual efforts to turn classic material into relevant, modern movies. Thankfully, Atonement and Hanna director Joe Wright delivered a stunning riff on famed Russian love story Anna Karenina that should have prejudging naysayers eating crow when it hits theaters this Fall. Wright heightens the reality of his story by constructing Anna Karenina like an immersive ballet or opera. The production design and score are destined for Oscar nominations, but under the eye of Wright, every element seems to bleed into one another — including the great performances by Keira Knightley and Aaron Johnson. The film won't win everyone over, but Wright's hand will hopefully be evident enough to earn him a Best Director nomination.
The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson's latest has been lauded for its 70mm cinematography, which should make it a lock for the Best Cinematography Oscar, but its leading men should be the talk of the town come year's end. Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman give two impressive and totally different performances in The Master: one unrestrained and feral, the other tempered and controlling. Both Oscar-worthy.
Argo
Ben Affleck's third feature kicked Toronto off on a high note, the real-life thriller wowing with its eclectic ensemble and Affleck once again delivering tense, personal action. Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood, and Argo may be the greatest story never told: the film follows a group of producers who whip up a fake production in order to covertly sneak Americans out of the Iranian revolution. With Affleck, Oscar voters may see a new great in their midst. Throwing him a few awards would be fanfare for the revelation.
Hyde Park on the Hudson
We were underwhelmed by Hyde Park on the Hudson, a film chronicling President Franklin D. Roosevelt's affair with his cousin during the King and Queen of England's first visit to the United States. There isn't much of a story (and it recalls a better personal interpretation of political strife: The King's Speech). But it has one major component going for it: Bill Murray. His FDR is charming and complex, and while the film may not live up to his grandeur, the Oscars may see through the mess with a Best Actor nomination.
Amour and No
Not to be overshadowed by the major studios releases, both Michael Haneke's Amour and Pablo Larraín's No won over audiences at TIFF and could easily pop up in the the Best Foreign Language Film — and heck, even the Best Picture — conversation come Oscar time. Haneke's devastating look at old age and the waning years before death will be hard to top as the year's biggest tearjerker. No plays like a '80s Chilean version of Mad Men; starring Gael Garcia Bernal, the film tells the true story of a group of ad wizards who use their tactics of selling Coca-Cola and toothpaste to help campaign against the dictator Pinochet in an unprecedented election.
The Impossible
Juan Antonio Bayona's dramatization of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has the chops to be an Oscar contender, but it might be too good to actually win over voters. Shocking and heartfelt, Bayona rips apart his two lead actors, Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, in an effort to accurately depict devastation. The first half is a frightening wonder (sure to be lauded with Special Effect Oscars next year), but if too many Academy members turn away in hopes of keeping their lunches down, The Impossible may not see the love it deserves.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: CREDIT]
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Co-director Lana Wachowski enlisted computer specialists to re-imagine Sturgess as a South Korean man before he was cast in the upcoming sci-fi drama.
Sturgess tells New York Magazine, "I think Lana said, 'We did a few graphic tests, we took a photo of you, and we played around with your face to see what it might look like.' I think it works on some people and doesn't so much on others. I was pleased. I was up for having a go."
Once he landed the part, artists completed Sturgess' transformation by changing the shape of his eyelids and fitting him with a black wig.
He explains, "It was a very intricate thing getting the eyes just right. It took about two hours in the beginning... And I had a black wig. That was really it... We sort of did a whole lot of makeup tests to try and see what would work, and we tried everything. You know, changing my nose and my face, and it ended up being too much."
Sturgess ultimately got the perfect seal of approval from his Korean co-star Doona Bae's mum: "Doona's mum came on set and she said, 'Ah, you look like (a) very nice Asian man.' So I'll take it from her... That was the biggest sort of accolade I could have got."

David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas consists of six stories, set in various time periods between 1850 and a time far into Earth's post-apocalyptic future. Each segment lives on its own, the previous first person account picked up and read by a character in its successor, creating connective tissue between each moment in time. The various stories remain intact for Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski's (The Matrix) film adaptation, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. The massive change comes from the interweaving of the book's parts into one three-hour saga — a move that elevates the material and transforms Cloud Atlas in to a movie of epic proportions.
Don't be turned off by the runtime — Cloud Atlas moves at lightning pace as it cuts back and forth between its various threads: an American notary sailing the Pacific; a budding musician tasked with transcribing the hummings of an accomplished 1930's composer; a '70s-era investigate journalist who uncovers a nefarious plot tied to the local nuclear power plant; a book publisher in 2012 who goes on the run from gangsters only to be incarcerated in a nursing home; Sonmi~451, a clone in Neo Seoul who takes on the oppressive government that enslaves her; and a primitive human from the future who teams with one of the few remaining technologically-advanced Earthlings in order to survive. Dense, but so was the unfamiliar world of The Matrix. Cloud Atlas has more moving parts than The Wachowski's seminal sci-fi flick and the additional ambition to boot. Every second is a sight to behold.
The trio directors are known for their visual prowess, but Cloud Atlas is a movie about juxtaposition. The art of editing is normally a seamless one — unless someone is really into the craft, the cutting of a film is rarely a post-viewing talking point — but Cloud Atlas turns the editor into one of the cast members, an obvious player who ties the film together with brilliant cross-cutting and overlapping. Timothy Cavendish, the elderly publisher, could be musing on his need to escape, and the film will wander to the events of Sonmi~451 or the tortured music apprentice Robert Frobisher, also feeling the impulse to run. The details of each world seep into one another, but the real joy comes from watching each carefully selected scene fall into place. You never feel lost in Cloud Atlas, even when Tykwer and The Wachowskis have infused three action sequences — a gritty car chase in the '70s, a kinetic chase through Neo Seoul, and a foot race through the forests of future millenia — into one extended set piece. This is a unified film with distinct parts, echoing the themes of human interconnectivity.
The biggest treat is watching Cloud Atlas' ensemble tackle the diverse array of characters sprinkled into the stories. No film in recent memory has afforded a cast this type of opportunity, yet another form of juxtaposition that wows. Within a few seconds, Tom Hanks will go from near-neanderthal to British gangster to wily 19th century doctor. Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Ben Whishaw, Hugo Weaving, and Susan Sarandon play the same game, taking on roles of different sexes, races, and the like. (Weaving as an evil nurse, returning to his Priscilla, Queen of the Desert cross-dressing roots, is mind-blowing.) The cast's dedication to inhabiting their roles on every level helps us quickly understand the worlds. We know it's Halle Berry behind the fair skinned wife of the lunatic composer, but she's never playing Halle Berry. Even when the actors are playing variations on themselves, they're glowing with the film's overall epic feel. Jim Broadbent's wickedly funny modern segment, a Tykwer creation that packs a particularly German sense of humor, is on a smaller scale than the rest of the film but the actor never dials it down. Every story, character, and scene in Cloud Atlas commits to a style. That diversity keeps the swirling maelstrom of a movie in check.
Cloud Atlas is a polarizing film, dividing Toronto audiences down the middle. Some say it falls flat, others call it a triumphant piece of filmmaking (I fall in the latter category). But a majority of the TIFF audience walked away admitting that the pure ambition was present on screen, an attempt to use every element of moviemaking in an effort to tell a sweeping story about humanity. Like last year's Oscar-nominated Tree of Life, Cloud Atlas aims to pose big questions, albeit with a larger scale than the 2011 indie. A slower moment or two may have helped The Wachowskis and Tykwer's film to hit a powerful emotional chord, but the finished product still proves mainstream movies can ask questions while laying over explosive action scenes. This year, there won't be a bigger movie than Cloud Atlas.
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The Matrix director lived as a man called Larry until 2002 and she only publicly confirmed her gender reassignment in July (12) while promoting new Tom Hanks film Cloud Atlas.
Wachowski, who divorced college sweetheart Thea Bloom in 2002 and went on to marry a second wife, has now revealed she suffered many sleepless nights as she contemplated telling her relatives about her sex change plans.
She tells the New Yorker magazine, "For years, I couldn't even say the words transgendered or transsexual. When I began to admit it to myself, I knew I would eventually have to tell my parents and my brother and my sisters. This fact would inject such terror into me that I would not sleep for days."
Wachowski insists she was overwhelmed by support from family members and now feels happy in her new life, adding, "I chose to change my exterior to bring it closer into alignment with my interior... My biggest fears were all about losing my family. Once they accepted me, everything else has been a piece of cake."
However, Wachowski is determined to keep some details of her sex change private: "I know that many people are dying to know if I have a surgically constructed vagina or not, but I prefer to keep this information between my wife and me."

It might not be fair to keep teasing the public with possible big name directors for the developing Justice League movie, but the ambition and excitement behind as people swirling around every name in contention. As the world struggles to get over the disappointment in Ben Affleck revealing to 24 Hours that the project is "not something [he's] working on," we go on the rebound with a new potential team for the film: Andy and Lana Wachowski, the masterminds behind The Matrix series. Moviehole reports that the Wachowskis are on Warner Bros' short list to take on Justice League. Hollywood.com reached out to Warner Bros. and The Wachowskis for comment.
It is likely that a mysterious calm has overtaken you in light of this news. "Why does this seem so... appropriate?" you might ask. Why are you so sure that the Wachowskis can handle a feature film encompassing the DC Comics superheroes? Simply, because they've done it all before. You've seen the Wachowskis tackle the likes of Superman, Batman, the Flash... sort of.
Think of The Matrix. Star Neo is the chosen hero of humanity, called upon to accept his fate, leaving his old life behind to defend the world against the evil agencies working against the constructs of "good." Neo is impenetrable, he is incredibly strong, and he can fly. Neo is Superman.
The Wachowskis might not have directed V for Vendetta, but they did adapt the script from David Lloyd's graphic novel. The film stars Hugo Weaving as the unnamed hero — a masked and caped vigilante, whose insatiable craving for vengeance against the purveyors of terror was born out of a nebulous trauma; a trauma that left him alone in the world and disconnected from the very idea of love, abandoning his own sense of self to become the idea of a hero for his corrupt city. In other words: Batman.
And finally: the 2008 Wachowski film, Speed Racer. It's about a guy who is super fast. You know, like the Flash. That guy's super fast. Vroom!
Unavoidable connections. Combine this with whatever Aquaman themes are inherent in Cloud Atlas (you know there have got to be a few), and it's clear to see that the Wachowskis have been practicing for a Justice League movie for years now. Take the red pill, Wachowskis. Delve into the vast world of DC Comics.
[Photo Credit: DC Comics]
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Christopher Nolan Has No Sense of Justice... League

The 47-year-old moviemaker has undergone a sex change operation and now goes by the name Lana.
With her hair in pink dreadlocks, Wachowski introduced herself for the first time as a woman in a behind-the-scenes trailer for the new drama, saying, "Hi, I'm Lana."
The Matrix director was previously married to Thea Bloom. They divorced in 2002 after nine years of marriage.
Wachowski is not the first celebrity to come out as transgender in recent months - Cher's daughter Chastity is now known as Chaz Bono, Against Me! singer Tom Gabel recently became Laura Jane Grace, and Warren Beatty and Annette Bening's eldest child, daughter Kathleen, is formally called Steven Ira.

Cloud Atlas had a bumpy road to realization. Even with a signed cast that included Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, and Jim Broadbent, and a trio of visionary directors — Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) teaming with Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix) — no one wanted to invest in the epic project, budgeted upwards of $100 million. What was the deal?
Viewing the trailer for the film (yes, the unimaginable team of talent eventually found the money!) sums up why potential backers may have been wary. Cloud Atlas looks like nothing we've seen before, the sweeping, six-minute spot bouncing back and forth between time periods without taking a breath. Based on the book by author David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas interlocks six stories that take place in various spans of human history: 1850, 1931, 1975, present day…and beyond. The actors in the film portray different characters in each segment, each one a reincarnation of their predecessor. The ambitious undertaking looks as grand as its themes of universal interconnectivity — Cloud Atlas may be the only movie that will ever figure out how to include 19th century ships, nuclear power plants, clones, and post-apocalyptic refugees into one movie.
Cloud Atlas almost didn't happen, the end goal seeming too impossible to pull off. Judging from the trailer, the gamble on Tykwer and the Wachowskis may have been worth it. We'll find out when the Cloud Atlas challenges our eyes and minds in theaters on October 26, 2012.
Head to Apple for the official trailer and an introduction from Tykwer and the Wachowskis on their approach to the innovative film.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
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[Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]
Cloud Atlas Trailer

The 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival is officially in full swing, with nearly everyone in Hollywood transported to the prestigious French fest for a week and a half of wheeling and dealing. Catch up on all the goings-on with Cannes Chatter.
The Oscars are eight months away, but the race has officially begun. After the Cannes premiere of Rust and Bone, the latest film from Jacque Audiard (the Oscar-nominated A Prophet), critics are already pegging Marion Cotillard as a possible contender for the Best Actress award. The Guardian is blunt: "Rust and Bone has to be a real contender for prizes, and, the odds will be shortening to vanishing point for Cotillard getting the best actress award." AwardsDaily suggests Cotillard's given her "second best performance," (the actress previously won the Oscar for her work in the film La Vie en Rose), while RopesOfSilicon describes her work as "one scene after another of sheer perfection to the point she turns Katy Perry's 'Firework' into an emotional epiphany." I don't know what that means, but it sounds amazing. Here's the first trailer from the film:
Sean Penn caused quite a stir during a fundraising dinner at the prestigious film festival when he lambasted the press, celebrities and "the whole f**king world" for their lack of support in Haiti. In 2010, the island nation was struck by a destructive earthquake. Penn, a vocal humanitarian, quickly leapt into action, starting the J/P Haitian Relief Organization in order to rebuild and fortify the country. Now, two years later, Penn believes most people vocal during the initial catastrophe have dropped the ball. "The reason we have Haiti fatigue is because there was never a commitment in the first place," Penn commented during his Cannes dinner. The cherry on top of the call to action was a comment directed at President Barack Obama. "It is time for our formidable and elegant president to stand by side with the new president of Haiti"." [THR]
Andy and Lana Wachowski, directors of the modern classic The Matrix, unveiled their latest project, a collaboration with Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer, to a lucky audience of Cannes-goers on Thursday. Cloud Atlas, based on the novel David Mitchell, has been shrouded in secrecy since it began its production in Berlin last year. Now a three-hour cut of the era-jumping epic has been unveiled to buyers at the French film fest. It's a hot property — the film sees Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and a handful of other name actors playing multiple roles across a variety of locations and time periods. Reactions are mum, but Cannes is a breeding ground for hype that could carry all the way to the film's assumed award season-friendly release. [Indiewire]
At the press conference for his latest film Chinese Zodiac, Jackie Chan dropped a major bomb for his fans. ""This will be my last action movie," the legendary martial arts actor told press at the Cannes Film Festival. "I will ask my body how long I can go…I tell you, I am not young any more." Action has always been Chan's bread and butter, but according to sources he now wants to be a "real actor." Wait, what was The Tuxedo then!? [E!]
Football (or as us boring Americans refer to as, soccer) isn't as popular in the U.S. as it is across the globe, but perhaps that'll change when Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass brings the compelling tale of the FC Barcelona team to the big screen. FilmNation is shopping a documentary film by the United 93 director that producers claim this'll be "the singular film on football." With a style akin to documentary filmmaking, the project sounds right up Greengrass' alley, and in a press release, his enthusiasm for the film is loud and clear. "I’m excited to tell the extraordinary story of Barca and their magnificent achievements under Pep Guardiola on film. They have given the world a rare glimpse of sporting perfection, and memories that will last for as long as the game is played." [Deadline]
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
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In the span of a few months, Natalie Portman won an Oscar and had a kid. Since then, everyone's been dying to know when she'll come back to work. We were jazzed when the Black Swan actress was eying up Jupiter Ascending, another collaboration with the masters of Sci-fi Lana and Andy Wachowski, which sounded like an epic-in-the-making and the perfect curveball to avoid the dreaded post-Oscar slump. Now, news comes in she may have a different plan in store—but one that should satisfy fans nonetheless.
Portman has committed to starring in two back-to-back movies with heralded Tree of Life director Terrance Malick: Knight of the Cups, co-starring Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Isabel Lucas, and Lawless, which also sees Bale and Blanchett returning, along with Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Haley Bennett. Like Malick's previous films, there's little known about either project, but with an exceptional track record (and an Oscar nomination now under his belt for Tree of Life), there's a good chance Portman's decision will be one that works in the favor of her fans.
No word on when to expect either film in theaters—Malick is notorious for taking his time shooting and planning liberal post-produciton schedules—but with Portman on our radar, we'll be keeping close track of Knight of the Cups and Lawless all the way to completion.
Source: Deadline
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Summary

One half of the fraternal filmmaking duo known as the Wachowski Brothers, Larry Wachowski and sibling Andy were the creative minds behind the "Matrix" trilogy (2000, 2003), one of the most imaginative and influential film series in Hollywood history. Conceived from a childhood steeped in fantasy novels and comic books, the "Matrix" films combined martial arts action with literary and cinematic references and a wide array of world religious and philosophical tenets. The result was a massively popular trio of films that largely redefined the action genre and CGI effects as a whole for a new generation of moviegoers. While the brothers continued to release big-screen epics in its wake, including "V for Vendetta" (2005) and "Ninja Assassin" (2009), Larry Wachowski earned as much press for his personal life, which included a relationship with a dominatrix and rumored gender reassignment, coupled with a new name, Lana Wachowski. Despite the gossip, he and brother Andy remained two of the most successful and mysterious genre directors in Hollywood.

Education

Name

Whitney M. Young Magnet High School

Bard College

Notes

"You talk to people and they always ask, 'Why are action movies so dumb?' We hope people are more interested in a more intelligent approach. We hope they are not just interested in what we call McDonald's movies, the standard you-know-what-you-get [films]." – Wachowski quoted in USA Today, April 5, 1999

"Maybe we'll just retire with a two-film retrospective. We're just so tired at this point." – Warchowski quoted in The New York Times, April 5, 1999

After finishing "Speed Racer" (2008), Wachowski underwent hormone treatments and a sex-change operation to transform into a woman. The filmmaker also changed her name to Lana.